Things you can print with a 3-D printer

The rise of 3-D printing technology, or the ability to manufacture products simply by automating their construction through computer programming, has continued to produce a wide array of functional products.

The potential of 3-D printing has expanded to include items few ever dreamed could be created through automized production.

Here, we've compiled a list of 10 products that have now been successfully produced using 3-D printers. To help explain the phenomenon, we've also included the video above by the folks over at Mashable explaining the details of how, exactly, 3-D printing works.

Makeup

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Harvard Business School graduate Grace Choi made waves at a recent Tech Crunch Disrupt conference where she demonstrated that she could print "a wearable color cosmetic."

By using regular printer ink and 3-D printer technology, Choi has created a printer that she calls "Mink" hoping to bring accessibility and affordability to all cosmetic colors.

"The little printer lets users choose any color on the web, or in the real world, and using simple already-existing software, print that color into a blush, eye shadow, lip gloss or any other type of makeup," Tech Crunch's Alyson Shontell wrote about Choi's printer.

"With Mink, users can satisfy the desire for instant gratification while still having access to any color in the world at an affordable price."

Guns

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The first 3-D printed firearm was fired on May 5, 2013 and has since stirred up numerous debates about the possible dangers — or benefits — of allowing 3-D printed guns to go unregulated.

"A homemade gun built from schematics downloaded off the Internet is hardly new," Popular Mechanics' Adam Hadhazy wrote a few days after the first shot was fired.

But what the gun, known by its creators as "The Liberator," means for the possibilities of 3-D printing technology is unquestionably exciting.

Gold

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While 3-D printers aren't capable of printing the element itself, the new technology does have the ability to create molded gold objects.

By using wax as the starting model, gold becomes the wax's replacement after the wax has been encased in gypsum (a mineral used as a main component in plaster) and the wax is "burned out."

Thus creating gold products using the same printing technology, or "additive manufacturing" technology, as the other products on our list.

Houses

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Chinese production company WinSun Decoration Design Engineering built 10 one-story houses in one day using 3-D printing technology, and they did so using all recycled materials.

"Industrial waste from demolished buildings is damaging our environment," Winsun CEO Ma Yihe, the designer of the printer used to build the houses, told International Business Times.

"With 3D-printing, we are able to recycle construction waste and turn it into new building materials."

According to the IBT, the 3-D printer not only constructed the shell of the houses, but also "took into account plumbing, electrical lining, insulation materials and windows," that would require tracing paths once the houses were complete.

"Yes, that's right," the Journal's Laura Ryan and Reena Flores wrote on May 9, "3-D printers could soon be able to make organs and arteries for transplants."

In fact, A professor at Rice University named Jordan Miller has already presented a 3-D printer capable of printing blood vessels on Capitol Hill.

"Printing full organs is still years away," Ryan and Flores wrote. But they also say that the printers' ability for customization mean the idea itself is certainly realizable.

Teddy bears

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Disney Research, a collaboration of the Walt Disney Company with multiple independent laboratories, has begun experimenting with printing felt teddy bears, according to Engadget.

"It's a little early to say that Buildabear should be worried," Engadget's Terrence O'Brien wrote in April. "But we wouldn't be resting on our laurels if we were them."

Candy

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A 3-D printer capable of producing edible candy premiered at the SXSW conference in Austin last March, and according to CBS news, it could mean big changes for the candy industry.

"Companies are seeing good traction because 3-D printers have proven themselves commercially serious and flexible enough to accommodate a growing set of uses," CBS' Erik Sherman wrote shortly after the SXSW conference.

The ability to produced edible products has even lead Hershey to invest in 3-D production, according to Sherman.

Acoustic Guitar

Cubify

Cubify, a website devoted to proving what 3-D printers are capable of, reported in September of 2012 that they successfully printed an acoustic guitar for the first time.

"The variety of shapes offered by 3D printing stands to create guitars that are as sculptural as their ancestors," Cubify wrote on their website, "yet with far less carbon footprint, less resource dependent, and, yes, even recyclable."

Cars

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German engineering firm EDAG turned heads in March when they revealed their prototype for a 3-D printed car, according to Wired.

"We’ve seen 3-D printing applied to cars before," Wired's Alexander George wrote after the car was unveiled. "But EDAG’s design is unique because it shows that with the right equipment you can produce a structure at a massively larger scale."

Clothing

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Move over sewing machines, 3D printers are coming to take over the industry, according to The New York Times.

"In recent months, 3-D-printed clothes and accessories have shown up on 'Project Runway' ... the actual runway ... and on the Neiman Marcus website," The Times' Steven Kurutz wrote in December.

According to Kurutz, 3-D printers currently use fabrics that are thicker than most consumers would like, but as the technology continues to advance that is sure to change.